“Could you? It’d be best if this conversation seems casual. If Heather ever found out I was talking to anyone about her, she’d be madder than a mule with a mouthful of bees.”

“I’ll get directions from Mrs. Colson and be there shortly after lunch—say, one o’clock?”

“Great.”

Cody lingered at the door and appeared to be assessing her. “Are you thinking of sticking around Pepper?”

“I was hired last month. I wasn’t scheduled to start work for another two weeks, but it seems I’m starting early.”

Sherry couldn’t believe she’d said that. Until Cody Bailman had walked in the door, she’d been intent on demanding her two weeks. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Cody said, grinning broadly.

“Tomorrow,” she agreed.

Still he stayed. “Might as well come by around lunchtime. The least I can do is feed you.”

With a slight nod of her head, she accepted his offhand invitation.

The phone on the desk rang, breaking the silence—and the spell that had apparently descended on both of them. Then the ring was cut off. Mrs. Colson must have picked it up.

As Cody was just about to leave, the receptionist burst through the door, a look of panic in her eyes. “That was Luke Johnson. Ellie’s having labor pains, and he’s scared to death he’s gonna have to deliver that baby on his own. You’d better get over there quick as you can.”

“Where?” Sherry asked.

“Rattlesnake Ridge,” Cody said. “Come on.” He gripped her elbow. “I’ll drive you. You’d never find it on your own.”

CHAPTER TWO

“Rattlesnake Ridge?” Sherry muttered under her breath as she hurried with Cody toward his pickup truck. He opened the passenger door and helped her inside. Although slender, Sherry wasn’t the sort of female who generally required assistance, but her comparatively meager height—five foot five, as opposed to Cody’s six-two—meant she needed help this time. The tires on his truck looked as if they belonged on a tanker trailer.

It was impossible to determine the color of the vehicle, and Sherry suspected it hadn’t been washed since it’d been driven off the showroom floor. Maybe, she thought, the dirt helped the rust hold the thing together.

Once she situated herself inside the cab, Cody dashed around the front and leaped in. His door made a cranking sound when he opened and closed it. He shoved the key into the ignition and the engine roared to life. She immediately noticed all the papers clipped to the dash; it looked as if he stored most of his paperwork there. She couldn’t suppress a smile at his fingertip filing system.

“I’ll need some things from my car,” she told him. “It’s parked over by the café.” Cody stopped on Main Street, directly in front of her PT Cruiser and answered her unasked question.

“It’s the only car I didn’t recognize,” he said as he opened the door and jumped down, then came around to give her a hand.

By the time Sherry was back in the pickup and fumbling with her seat belt, they were racing out of town.